My Dear Fairy Boy
by Misao the Great
Summary: Malon's thoughts on Link.


All right, this story is a bridge fic between the two other stories I'm going to do in this series. I know I wrote this one first, and that's odd. This is Malon's perspective on what is happening around her. This takes place after "Knight of Shadow" and before/during "Whispers of a Hero" if that makes any sense.

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**My Dear Fairy Boy**

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"So, when will I see you again, Fairy Boy?" He never answered that question, no matter how many times I asked it.

Even still, every week or so he would come wearily trotting into the ranch on Epona, barely staying in the saddle. I never understood why he came to our ranch to sleep when he could have spent the night in an inn in Kakariko with the amount of rupees he always seemed to have. But he always chose our barn over those higher forms of living. If nothing else, at least he seemed at peace while he spent his few days recovering before disappearing to fight the next evil. The only times I got to see him off like the last were days when I managed to wake earlier than him. If Link had his own way, he'd leave without anyone knowing and no good-byes.

When Ganondorf still ruled the land, I had to remind myself that in his own mind he was still a boy. His body had aged, but he had not lived through the experiences that make a person age mentally and emotionally. He was very socially awkward during that time, usually afraid to say anything at all. He had always been shy, and he almost acted mute. Though I felt honored. He would talk to me, tell me stories about the places he had been. During these long talks of ours, I would find myself fascinated and eagerly asking about everything. We conversed almost as easily as we had seven years before. I knew he had always been a mature child, and it made me wonder if I had really grown up at all.

It was true; I would never be able to forget those horrible years when my father was banished from the ranch before Link came back. I only really remember things to a point, and after that it's rather jumbled. Link told me that I didn't recognize him for a while, even after he told me who he was. I suppose I might have been in shock at having my life turned over. During that time I got to sleep in the barn on the little pallet that Link now uses when he visits. It was almost actually sort of nice to sleep with my beloved horses. One memory that I did have of that time was very clear in my mind.

I'd taken to singing in the fields at night, as Mr. Ingo decided that he hated my mother's song. I remembered a strange man coming into the field and standing near me. I was too tired and worn to care about my own well-being if he had had any ill intent towards me. I did not recognize Link, but I remember being mildly surprised that a stranger was so sad for me. Later, when I recovered from that time, I realized it had been my fairy boy. I had never seen the hero cry before, but for some reason I remember him almost doing so then. It could have been my imagination. There was just a picture in my mind of him quietly standing in front of me, just gazing into my blank eyes. One small tear sat on the edge of his eyelashes before it was blinked away. It puzzled me for quite some time because I knew that he just cared for me as a friend. He must have just been very sad to see the state I was in, maybe blamed it on himself. I knew that he very likely was in love with the princess, so I didn't dwell on the whole thing for very long.

The most unusual change that came over him was just after he defeated Ganon. Link disappeared for three months. When he returned, he seemed so very much older, almost a decade past his physical age. He was also much quieter, as if he had seen far more than he would ever be willing to tell. I was comforted that he had at least taken Epona with him. I knew she would take care of him under all circumstances. It took a long time, but he finally admitted that Zelda had sent him back to relive his missing seven years, but it had not gone as she had planned. He never spoke of it to me again. Navi was gone.

There was one thing that always sparked my curiosity. No matter where he went, Link carried an intricately carved wooden box. I had never seen him open it, but in a rare moment I had seen him acting very strangely towards it, as if some force was coming from it. He hadn't known I was watching him, even with his incredibly sharp senses. He had the box sitting on a table and was simply staring at it. Every few minutes of sitting still, his right hand would come up in an effort to touch the lid but would halt a hand's breadth away before falling back into his lap. I thought that probably the only reason he hadn't noticed me was that he had been so focused on that box. I knew he had not had it with him before his three month disappearance. Or his eight year and three month disappearance, if one went by his view.

He did tell me that he had not been intended to end up in our world again. With the way Zelda had tried to send him back, Link should have been transported to a copy of our world where Ganondorf did not exist. At least, that's how he explained it to me. He never actually said it to me, but I think he was as angry as Link ever got toward a friend that Zelda had not asked if he wanted to relive those years. He did tell me that he was glad he had managed to find his way back to the land he had started from. I knew that I was glad, or else I would have lost him and never known why. Zelda had promised to not attempt any form of time manipulation again. Link had become quite skilled at it, apparently, though he refused to speak on the subject.

I had guessed that he was doing that sort of thing when he left each week. Once again, he wouldn't tell me, but he didn't deny it either. I didn't know why he was so hesitant to speak of it. I could only assume he had seen things so ghastly that he wished to not think of them anymore. I once asked him how he knew he was home if there were copies of our world. He told me that he could sense the ancient magic in the ground and that it welcomed him.

He had become so much more adept at using magic. In addition to the handy spell Impa had taught him as a child, Link had picked up many magical items and spells that he could use. It had confused me so much when we were ten, when he would pull a rather large item out of what seemed to be thin air. He explained it to me as being exactly that. The Sheikah guard, Impa, had taught him a way to make items vanish but still be there. I had lost the explanation after that. I just knew that there was no telling what he might have available at any given time. It did explain how he could carry three shields, three pairs of boots, and three sets of tunics around and still be able to fight. I was a bit shocked when he seemed to pull a very large and heavy metal hammer from between his shield and back, where I know there had been nothing moments earlier. He told me that he couldn't do it for just anything. It only worked with items that he knew very well. He had to have an almost perfect mental picture and know how the object felt in his hands to recall it.

I discovered very early in life that I had little to no magic ability of my own. I might sense something coming if it's giving off enough energy to dissolve me where I stand. That was why I was so shocked when I actually felt power one afternoon. Link had left the room, but for the first time I could remember, he had left the mysterious box on the table. Of course I was curious, but I would never betray his trust on something he considers so serious. I was just sweeping the room, nowhere near the item in question to resist any temptation. Unfortunately the cuccos did not have the same restraint. I didn't see them until it was too late. They had knocked the box off of the table. The lid flew off, and whatever was inside bounced a few steps before lying in the dirt. I briefly thought to leave it there and let Link deal with it. Then I thought I might be able to hide that it had happened. I moved to the other side of the room and knelt next to what looked like the back of a mask. That was when the power hit me. It was so strong I felt like I had been physically shoved back. My hands were trembling as I picked it up and turned it over.

It was his face, but so very wrong. There was no doubt that it was Link, but the hair was white and there were markings on it. It was the face of a god.

Link had chosen that moment to return. I think he had probably known something had happened if he could sense the evil energy from wherever he had gone. I glanced up at him, feeling for all of Hyrule like a guilty child with my hand in the candy jar. For a brief instant, when his eyes saw what I held, there was fear there for the first time. He had taken on all sorts of terrifying monster and not been afraid. Link was afraid of the mask. It made me reevaluate the situation I was in, sitting on the floor and holding a mask that even the Hero of Time was scared of. Then I saw anger, also for the first time.

"Link? I didn't mean for… I wasn't being nosey… the cuccos…"

He didn't say anything. He quietly knelt next to me, not meeting my eyes, and righted the box. Then, very hesitantly, his hands lifted the mask from my own and put it away. When the lid met the bottom there was a breath of relief in the surrounding air. Somehow that box had been dampening the raw energy it was giving off. Link still didn't say anything to me. I watched him leave the house with the box. I admit that I sat on the ground stupidly for quite sometime, not really sure what had just happened. When I collected myself enough to leave the house I found Epona and Link gone.

For a while I feared that I had done something unforgivable and that my fairy boy would never come back. It was a silly idea, but he was gone for three weeks that time. When he returned there was no sign of the box.

I was unsure of how to act around him then. Luckily, Link behaved as if nothing unusual had happened. He might have even been a bit more cheerful and open. I wondered if not having to constantly carry that mask around had anything to do with it. He apologized for getting angry with me that day and never spoke of it again. I was getting used to that sort of thing.

It rather surprised me when Link started asking me to go places with him. Before, he would just leave and not look back. After the mask was gone he insisted in his own quiet way that I accompany him to the castle and any other place he visited in Hyrule. I tried to imagine if there could be some correlation between his strange behavior and the mask disappearing. Regardless of that, he took me to places I had never seen before and places that I had been, but never seen in the way that he showed me. I learned more about my fairy boy during those times than I ever had before in all my years of knowing him.

During those days he did not leave Hyrule to go to other worlds, or if he did, he returned a few moments after he left. I worried that I had done something irreparable and asked him that one day. He gave me a rather stunned look before it melted into a gentle smile, telling me that I hadn't done anything wrong. He really had grown into a silent man, and I knew it wasn't for lack of things to say. There were occasions when he would feel talkative and tell me marvelous stories. I felt honored that he trusted me with these tales, for I knew he didn't share them with just anybody. He seemed very wistful during these retellings, and I could only imagine what it felt like to actually live through them first-hand. Despite those moments of honesty, Link still never spoke of his missing seven years.

There were times when I would do something or say something that reminded him of that time and upset him terribly. If I took the cows out to the field to brush them down he got a rather edgy look and made himself scarce around the field for the rest of the day. One day I scared both of us, but I could never figure out why. Link had been wearing his green tunic that day and been running around the field for exercise. I made a comment about the pitter-patter of his feet and that he reminded me of a grasshopper. He had frozen in place. I called out to ask what was wrong, but before I could even finish the words he was running away from me and the field and gone into the barn. I was stunned. Something that I had said had upset him enough to hide.

I never knew if it was the best thing I could have done, but I followed him. I found him, sitting on his little bed, face in his hands and fingers tightly gripping his straw-colored bangs. I really didn't know what to do, but something inside me demanded that I comfort him. I had never been so bold and afterwards wouldn't dare to do it again. I knelt down on the mattress behind him and hugged my fairy boy. I felt him tense up at my contact at first before he relaxed slightly. I didn't bother apologizing because I had no way of knowing what I had done. I knew he wasn't mad at me, but I had reminded him of an unpleasant memory. I did my best to offer my warmth and comfort to remind him where he was. After quite a while he had let go of his hair and simply sat there, holding my arms to his chest. It made me glad to know he appreciated and needed the hug. I was embarrassed to admit to myself later on that it had felt very nice to hold him. I had felt the hard muscles of his back under my cheek where my head laid on his shoulder.

I had managed not to think thoughts of that nature for quite some time. Unfortunately it could not last forever. I had always known somewhere deep inside me that I cared for Link beyond being good friends. I asked him to help me clean and feed the horses not just because I wanted company, but because I liked to imagine that he and I would be doing that together for the rest of our lives. The incident with the hug only drove home how badly I wished he would care for me like that. It was a hard feeling to forget, but it was necessary. He was too kind and innocent to have my wishes thrust upon him. I had also had on very good authority from the old lady in Kakariko that it wouldn't be long before the Hero of Time and the Queen would be married. I had tried not to think about it, reminding myself that it would change nothing. Unfortunately, hope is a very hard thing to kill.

I had a whole string of memories that were very vague in their meaning but fed that blasted hope. None of them could be construed as anything more than brotherly behavior or just a very good friend. They were all simple things like catching me when I tripped or doing my chores for me when I was ill. I reminded myself that the hero always married the princess, and the plain farm girl never changed those stories from their destined course. Link never spoke of Zelda, but he did visit her every week. After the incident with the mask he took me with him and let me browse around the newly-built Castle Town while he visited the reconstructed castle. He was always in a slightly unusual mood after those visits, but it faded after an hour or so. He always bought me something small in the market before we left. I tried to see it as the behavior of an older brother and nothing more.

There was one event that I couldn't exactly reconcile with either brother or friend and settled on calling it a mix of both. A while before Castle Town was open again Link and I had gone to Kakariko together. He made several visits while we were there, one of them being the potion shop. I had gone to that shop many times in the seven years that Ganondorf had ruled for potions for the animals or with some prescription for Mr. Ingo. The man who ran the store was quite a bit older than me, but he always seemed to like having me come. It had been about a year since I had last visited it when I went there with Link.

He had greeted us warmly when we entered the shop. Link had been fine making his purchase until he noticed the man watching me intently.

"Malon," he said to me, "it has been a while since I have seen you."

I didn't think anything of making conversation with him, as I had always done in the past. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sinto. Things at the ranch have changed for the better. Mr. Ingo is acting like himself again, and my father is back. The horses are doing much better, so I haven't needed many medicines for them."

A hesitant look came over his face before he carefully said, "I had hoped that the horses weren't the only reason you were coming here."

I was truly puzzled by that statement, but apparently Link wasn't. He had grabbed his bag, grabbed my arm, and led us out of that place before I could begin to understand what had happened. His face was still calm, but a slight bit of fury danced in his eyes. I was panicked with the idea of having him mad at me and leapt to apologize.

"Link, I'm so sorry! I'm not sure what happened in there but-" he cut me off with a hand over my mouth.

I was slightly stunned; he rarely touched me in any way. He forced me to look into his eyes, I assumed to assure me of his sincerity.

"You did nothing wrong. I am not angry with you." He released my mouth and my arm and started heading toward the town's entrance.

I had followed him silently, and we remained that way for the rest of the trip home. I finally realized later that night what Mr. Sinto had been trying to say earlier and turned a deep crimson at the thought of it. He was a handsome man, all the women knew that, but I had never thought of him in that way. I was also shocked that he would think of me in that manner. The last time I had looked at myself in a mirror there hadn't been much to see.

Link's actions on that day had me confused for a very long time before I gave up thinking about it. I had resigned myself to worry about my horses and not my lack of a relationship. Unfortunately, there was still that small part of me that wished and hoped and eagerly drank in all the gossip about my fairy boy and his queen whenever I was in the market. I vowed to myself that I was only eighteen and that I had plenty of time to worry about it while I became a hunched-over old maid. I had no intention of marrying, despite my father's subtle comments on the matter. I had everything I needed. I might not have everything I wanted, but I was used to ignoring those thoughts. All I needed were my horses, my home, my father, and my dear fairy boy, and I would manage somehow without the rest.

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